Mr. Scot

I tend to flip back and forth a little, but mostly watched NFL Network this year. ESPN's draft coverage appeals to me a lot less since they put Mike Greenberg in charge of it.

Basically the top guy when it comes to free agency (as opposed to college scouting).

Re: Colbert, worth remembering that Assistant GM Dan Morgan is one of yhe candidates to succeed him in Pittsburgh. No disrespect to Dan, but I really don't want to see that happen.

The way they talk about him doesn't make it sound like they view him as a backup.

My luck, I'd have been the guy stuck in a middle seat between them

It's mentioned every year but few people seem to pay attention: media analysts have zero in common with actual NFL team evaluations. The one mistake I think the NFL made though was inviting him to the Draft. They ended up making his slide a national media event with him front and center.

That'd be pretty heavily contingent on us not having any other big needs though.

Backup quarterbacks... Other people's food orders... Next year's draft class...

It's possible, or if not "successor" at least "interim".

Final word on Willis, and one of the smarter takes I've seen...

There are already mock drafts for 2023 up on draft sites. (this when mocks posted in February turned out useless)

Yeah, that's...not actually true. But either way, going by this year's hype train isn't exactly a reliable path.

This time last year, people were saying similar things about Spencer Rattler and Sam Howell.

It's the time of year for that sort of thing. Some speculation on that front... First off, we have an opening to fill. The Panthers parted ways with Pro Personnel Director (and Jerry Richardson grandson) Matt Allen. They'll want to fill that role, and one guy with both Scott Fitterer and Carolina Panthers connections who I'd love to see come aboard is Seattle personnel guy Trent Kirchner. Given his current title in Seattle though, I don't know if he's an option. Could also look to somebody from Dan Morgan's history since pro personnel is kind of this thing. Second, many of us have been coveting Kevin Colbert pretty much since David Tepper bought the team. With the draft finished, his Steelers contract is officially over, and he's made clear in recent months that he's "stepping down" as opposed to retiring. That could translate into a lesser role with the Steelers, or possibly a job with someone else. Could he come here in a consultant type role? Don't know, but I think it'd be great if he did. Kinda related to that, the news that Scott Fitterer has been given the go ahead to basically reshape the personnel department as he sees fit tells me that Tepper trusts him. He and Morgan both have connections to people I'd love to see part of the Panthers organization (Lake Dawson and the aforementioned Kirchner for example) so I'll be watching to see who they could bring in. For those interested in this sort of thing, Neal Stratton (@InsideTheLeague) is a good follow.

Agreed. It was a smart play.

It's an amateur article for sure, but it's a halfway interesting read at least.

That would have sent him to a division rival.

That phrase still makes me cringe (PTSD) It's a different staff now though, so I probably shouldn't.

There was plenty of chatter that we'd trade down too, but everything depended on how the board fell. The Giants had to go off what they knew, and I can't really blame them for that. Schoen played it smart.

I actually believe he is. Sorry, dude.

Well, I mean it's not like the various personalities (and egos) in the draft room were all just gonna sit down and sing Kumbaya together. (especially not when somebody's job might be on the line) Guys who have been in a draft room would tell you the atmosphere sometimes gets...contentious

Definitely reads like his best fit would be a West Coast offense. People aren't going to be too happy about that one comparison though

Were any of their coaches on the hot seat though? That's kind of a big factor.

But they didn't know that. And realistically, it would have been rational to think somebody might have traded up for Thibodeaux. We might not have been inclined to take any of those offers, but again the Giants had no way of knowing that.